“I feel like it goes without saying that protecting water and being part of organizations locally that are doing that work is absolutely essential to our longevity as a company.” – Andi Pernsteiner

In your community, which businesses are already aligned with the values of conservation and stewardship you hope to promote?

In Marquette, Michigan, tourism is seen as more than an economic driver. It’s an opportunity to share values, foster connection, and protect what makes the place special. At Ore Dock Brewing Company, these ideas aren’t add-ons, they’re baked into the business model.

On Travel Beyond, Co-founder Andi Pernsteiner tells us how he’s using hospitality as a platform for community-building and stewardship. Since opening in 2012, Ore Dock has become a gathering space for a wide array of activities beyond enjoying a beer or two. Here, locals and visitors come together for public lectures on water conservation, live music, immersive theatre, and even memorial services. 

By listening to local needs and drawing inspiration from nearby Lake Superior, Ore Dock demonstrates how values like inclusivity, sustainability, and a sense of belonging can shape business decisions. As Marquette moves beyond its extractive past and toward a year-round visitor economy, Ore Dock stands as a model for how tourism and business can work together to support both people and place.

This episode, you’ll learn:

• How (and why) a restaurant or brewery can foster connections and become a cultural hub.
• How local landscapes can shape business values and leadership.
• Why water stewardship matters to beer (and beyond) and how business owners can play a part in that. 
• How to use tourism as a tool for connection and transformation, not just economic growth. 

Subscribe to Travel Beyond through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your favourite podcast player.

Show notes

The Michigan Brewers Guild promotes nearly 400 Michigan breweries and exhibits craft beer at events throughout the year.

Ore Dock Brewing Company is a community-focused craft brewery based in downtown Marquette, Michigan, on the shores of Lake Superior. Founded in 2012, the brewery was built on two core pillars: craft beer and community. Inspired by European beer halls where people of all ages and walks of life gather, Ore Dock set out to create not just a brewery, but a public space for connection, creativity, and culture.

Respect Marquette is a community-driven education and stewardship campaign created by Travel Marquette in partnership with Leave No Trace. Its goal is to help both residents and visitors understand how to explore Marquette County responsibly, while protecting its natural, cultural, and community resources.

Feature image provided by Travel Marquette.

Episode transcript

This transcript was generated using AI and has been lightly reviewed for accuracy.

Andi Pernsteiner: It goes without saying that protecting water and being part of organizations locally that are doing that work is absolutely essential to our longevity as a company.

Sara Raymond de Booy: Welcome to Travel Beyond. I’m Sara Raymond de Booy from Destination Think. I’m recording from Seattle, Washington from the homeland of the Duwamish, Squamish, Stillaguamish, and Muckleshoot people. On this show, we look at travel’s role in making a better world. We highlight leading destinations and change makers.

Our guests are taking local action that the world can learn from. They’re helping to regenerate ecosystems, communities, and economies, and they’re often making positive change happen from the bottom up. We’re back in Marquette, Michigan today, speaking with a local business owner about how the spirit of stewardship here is also playing a role in how small businesses operate.

After a few days in Marquette, we noticed there was hardly a chain store in the downtown area. Most of the streets are filled with locally owned restaurants, coffee shops, bakeries, retail businesses, and of course. A few breweries, all with their own character and backstories to learn about how respect Marquette affects more than just visitors here, but hospitality business owners too.

We sat down with Andy Pernsteiner from Ore Dock Brewing. This establishment is very connected to both the community and landscape here intentionally. It’s based out of an old multi-level car maintenance building, and their business has recently expanded into multiple connected spaces that offer different venues for locally made beer, seltzer sodas, and more.

This interview even took place in an upstairs bar that had temporarily been converted into a space for an interactive community theater. It was a really interesting place. So let’s jump in with Andy to learn more about how she has managed to create such a dynamic community hub that welcomes visitors and also works to educate locals and travelers alike.

All right. Well thanks for joining us at Ore Dock, I know it’s a busy summer morning trying to navigate all the, although it doesn’t feel like summer today, does it? 

Andi Pernsteiner: No. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: But yeah, I just wanted to start with the basics. Could you introduce yourself and just tell us a little bit about what you do? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Yeah. I’m Andy Pernsteiner, um, owner operator here at Ore Dock Brewing Company, and now the Trestle Lounge.

I have been, you know, we started this business in 2012, so I’ve been. In the space in some way, shape, or form. Since that time, I’ve kind of evolved in different roles depending on what the needs are, and currently, I’m, I’m overseeing the new space as well as, you know, everything we have going on here in in orac.

Yeah. I have to ask, what’s your favorite beer on offer here? Oh my gosh. My favorite beer definitely rotates, but I would say currently we have an excellent pale ale on called Concrete Zamboni. Yeah, so that’s the one I’ve been drinking quite a bit lately. Um, also the Evolved, which is a West Coast Pilsner.

And what originally brought you to Marquette? So that’s a, that’s a good question. I’m originally from Wisconsin and Wes and I, my hus, my now husband, um, met in Minneapolis in our first job. So we’re both engineers by training actually. Uh, both biomedical engineers and we were working there at the time and we had kind of bonded over hiking, biking, recreating, and that area.

And we were both from smaller towns. You know, being in the Twin Cities, there was opportunity, um, but it wasn’t like home. And he had told me about the up he went to school at Michigan Tech and how he wanted to bring me here and show me Marquette and, uh, the drive from Minneapolis to Marquette’s. Pretty funny because you go through like wilderness for hours and hours and I think at one point in time we were listening to the radio and.

I pushed the button to see if there was another station and it cycled all the way back to the one station we were getting. And I thought to myself, where are you taking me? Like what is this place? Um, but we got to Marquette and within 24 hours I absolutely fell in love with it here. Um, we moved here in 2005, found jobs here, and, and, and settled down.

I mean, it was like one of those stories where you don’t know where you’re gonna end up and then you end up there and it’s kind of crazy ’cause you fall in love with this space and you know you’re meant to be there. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Is there anything that convinced you to build your life here? 

Andi Pernsteiner: That not there? There was certainly not one thing.

Um, I know you’ve had a little time to spend here in Marquette and there’s some magical things about being on this great body of water, the nature, the outdoors being so, so close. We’re here, we live here in town with our kids, but within five minutes we can be on a hiking trail where we’re not gonna see anybody for miles.

So there’s something very special about that. And for me, I, I don’t know, it just felt, it felt like home when we came here. Yeah. Yeah. Is 

Sara Raymond de Booy: there something that continues to inspire you, kind of personally or professionally about this area? 

Andi Pernsteiner: It might sound cliche, but the Lake Western I are fortunate to live.

Like a block from Lake Superior. And it’s one of those things where you can wake up in the morning on stormy days and you even in the house, we can hear the waves of Lake Superior. I don’t know. Kinda gives me goosebumps to even talk about it. ’cause it, it’s, I don’t take that for granted. I think it’s an amazing thing and it is inspiring.

It does make me, you know, continue to want to, you know, be in this space, raise my family in this space and, and better this space as much as I can while I’m here. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: You’re obviously busy here. There’s lots of expansion going on. Yeah. But how often are you able to get out into nature and enjoy it? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Pretty frequently, but for short bouts.

Um, you know, like I said, it is so accessible here. Um, I, I can drive five, 10 minutes and, and be out and a very quiet space and I never, you know, I never. I hike most of the time these days. I do get out on the bike as much as I can. Um, but it’s a lot of just that, you know, you don’t need much gear. You can just find a trailhead and start walking.

Um, and I, I would say like three or four times a week I’m getting out there. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: And how would you describe the spirit of Marquette to someone who’s never been here? 

Andi Pernsteiner: I would, you know, the word grit comes to mind when I think about the spirit of Marquette because even though there’s a lot of wonderful opportunities, it’s also a harsh place to be sometimes, especially in the winter months.

We have a really long cold season here. Uh, we certainly have an interesting summer where the weather can be very unpredictable and so I think people. They live here because they like what they can experience here. They also know that there’s gonna be a, uh, challenges. And so I would say grit is probably the best word I can find for the spirit of Marquette.

So how did Ore Dock come to life? Well, so when Wes and I moved here in 2005. We were both in our careers and we had the opportunity to do some traveling because Wes being an engineer, worked for a company that did some trials of some products over in Europe. And so the traveling we got to do before kids was in the US but also quite a bit of European travel and we did like beer and so naturally we gravitated towards touring and, and spending time in some of the historic breweries over in Austria, in Germany.

And we just really found that sense of community that people talk about in those breweries and so historic. I remember sitting in one, I believe it was in Salzburg and like there was a group of men sitting next to us playing cards, probably all in their eighties. But then there’s a family, like a couple tables over with their kids kind of running around.

I mean, just a very vibrant scene, but incredibly eclectic. You know, that’s really what I would say inspired me to think about the brewing industry and what I really loved about it and the historic nature of it. I think I kind of went in a different direction with that question. I don’t know where I started, but I was reminiscing about my time there because that seeing something that was culturally significant that I knew was also so historic.

I think that BREW was 600 years old that we were at, I mean, they had been brewing there for so, so long that. You knew that that was what they had curated for that period of time. And I think you know, that being in like the 2009, 2010 timeframe, like the craft brewing scene in the US was very new. And I would say, you know, what we’re doing here at Ore Dock certainly isn’t unique.

You’ll find breweries like us all over the US but it is, you know, kind of taking from those. Like historic community focused breweries and kind of giving it our US spin. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Yeah. So how does the backdrop of Marquette inform what or what Ore Dock has become today? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Marquette was instrumental in creating what we’re doing at Ore Dock today.

When we started out with our business plan, you know, you, you, we wrote a hundred page business plan. We were like crazy about the planning process. But I think you realize you can plan all you want, but you really don’t know what’s gonna happen with your project when it gets off the ground. And this community, space, space, especially a place we’re sitting right now, uh, was a space that we knew we wanted to host events.

We wanted to host music, we wanted to host art shows. We had ideas about what we wanted to do. But it was really the Marquette community and their ideas and what people came to us with and said, this would be a really cool thing to do in this space. Theater, for instance, was one thing we never had on our radar.

And then, you know, theater groups, we’d love to do an immersive, um, show in your space. And so I really think the community created what we’re doing here today along with us. It was collaborative. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Yeah. So can you describe what, what all goes on at OC beyond just beer? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Yeah. Well that business plan I talked about, we actually had a, like a little infographic that was very remedial, um, that had two pillars and it was craft beer and community, and they were equal size.

And we really came into this project saying. We wanna make really great craft beer, but we also want to craft incredible experiences for our patrons. And so in thinking about that, when we look at the different types of events we do here it is everything from art shows to small farm. We just have a, had a farm market pop up last week to the immersive theater, to weddings, to funerals.

I mean, we’ve had multiple memorial services here. Like everything in between. Um, we have line dancing lessons here, lots of music. I mean, just really anything for any part of the community. We like to open it up to everything. And do 

Sara Raymond de Booy: you think a business like yours could exist in the same way anywhere else or is there – 

Andi Pernsteiner: Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah, I think, I think it’s. I think as long as you’re listening to your community, I mean, that’s part of it, right? You go in with an idea and then you take the feedback and you meld and you change. Um, I think it could happen anywhere. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: And do you think you guys would be able to exist without tourism in Marquette?

Andi Pernsteiner: That’s a really good question. We’d be very different without tourism. Um, I think we recognize that we get to live. 365 days a year in a beautiful space. For me, I really enjoy sharing that space with others. So for me as as like, you know, the owner of this space, tourism to me. Is important financially, obviously, but it’s also important to open up our home to other people.

And I think that that does inspire us to think about, you know, different ways to, to show people Marquette, not just the natives, the people are here visiting. Yeah. And has your view of Marquette changed since you’ve opened Door Dock? I wouldn’t say it’s changed. I think it’s, it’s definitely informed me of.

Many different groups and people that I would’ve ne, you know, maybe never interacted with otherwise. Have interactions with visitors been a part of that? Absolutely, yeah. It’s really fun to talk to people from other areas. It’s really fun to hear their stories from where they are. And I love hearing, you know, our bartenders here, they, they’ll come back with stories of people that are just, you know, traveling through, have had.

You know, crazy travel experiences elsewhere and it’s inspired us to go travel other places too. I mean, we get to have conversations with people from all over the world, just kind of a, I guess, a unique opportunity. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Yeah. And I know, um, we were talking about it a little bit before we started recording this, but could you talk about the Lake Superior connection and how, uh, passionate you are about keeping your product kind of local and 

Andi Pernsteiner: Yeah.

I’m beer is 95-plus-percent water. Um, so Lake Superior is incredibly important and when we, when we first started the brewery, we didn’t really think about the fact that our water source was Lake Superior until we started testing the water. That’s, that’s part of the. Initial process of creating your recipes is understanding the water that you’re working with, and a lot of places have to alter their water source, um, do different things to make the water what it should be for the brewing process.

And we have to do very little to our water in order to brew with it. And that’s phenomenal. And so over the years, um, especially like about five years ago, we were kind of. Determining how we wanted to continue to expand our, you know, our offerings and whether we maybe wanted to, um, put a production facility somewhere.

And we were very limited because we said, well, wherever we go, we need to still be brewing with Lake Superior Water. So how do we do that? And in the end, we didn’t end up finding another facility ’cause we just feel like what we’re pulling here, um, is, is such an integral part of our product. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Does that make you think differently about protecting this landscape?

Or how do you feel like your, your role or responsibility is not? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Well, I think it definitely makes me think about other people in my industry that don’t have access to the water that we have here. Um, you know, we don’t have the concerns that some of the Western breweries have with limited water resources.

And so I certainly think about that. I mean. It goes, I guess I feel like it goes without saying that protecting water and being part of organizations locally that are doing that work is absolutely essential to our longevity as a company. And what are some of those organizations you’re involved with? Um, Superior Watershed Partnership has been one that we’ve been a part of for a really long time.

We’ve worked with them. Um, the conservation district is another, they’re not water specific, but they’re conservation specific. And then also just. Other organizations that help people understand the way in which the water and the lake has, um, inspired and impacted our industries. So the Maritime History Museum does a monthly talk here about different, um, different historical aspects of the lake.

And then we have one other organization that just started doing talks on Lake Superior. Specifically and concerns about water, resources, um, conservation, those types of things. And I can’t remember the name of that organization right now, but, um, they’re, they just started a monthly series on site and we’ve had some really good engagement with the community in, in terms of talks and lectures in.

Sara Raymond de Booy: So more than a community gathering place as well. Just a place for education too. 

Andi Pernsteiner: Yep, yep. We do multiple, um, monthly, like we do a monthly series with several different organizations, um, which is, you know, essentially a lecture series and it’s amazing how many people wanna come out and listen to an expert talk about mostly Lake Superior and the surrounding areas.

Yeah. Yeah, that’s pretty cool. I would say right now I don’t have concerns with how Marquette’s growing. Partially because I was actually just in Traverse City the last couple weekends, which is an area that has seen really tremendous growth, and it’s certainly a community that Marquette compares itself to a lot and is concerned about becoming because of that kind of, um, boom and bust nature of the seasonality of that space.

I feel like Marquette has evolved in a way. I guess it could per perhaps happen in the future, but we’ve done, we’ve done a lot of work to make sure that we are creating the space for the whole, whole season. And I think we’ve been very deliberate about informing people about how to interact with nature, about how to interact within this community to try to keep people educated on that.

And it’s, it’s not, it doesn’t feel like we’re growing at a trajectory that that’s gonna be the case. Maybe I’m being optimistic, but I’m, I’m not, I would not say I’m worried right now. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: So, switching gears a little bit, you’re now the first woman and up local, right? Yeah. To become president of the Michigan Brewers Guild.

Yeah. What does that mean to you in terms of representation and inclusion? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Well, the up can sometimes, um, be a little bit forgotten or removed, I would say, from the rest of Michigan. We’re kind of like this. Far away place that a lot of people haven’t been. So I would say to me it was really important to ensure that, um, the breweries in the Upper Peninsula had a, a say, you know, down in Lansing and with the Guild itself.

So I would say that’s like number one for me in terms of being a representative on that board of directors. But additionally, I mean, brewing still is very much a male-dominated industry. I just felt like. You know, providing the insight. I, I mean, I think I can provide a little different insight about the industry itself, and so that was really important to me to be able to do that.

But overall, I mean, the di diversity of the industry, it is changing, but it certainly has had, um, I would say a history of sort of a like white male-dominated industry. But I love seeing owners from, you know, all ethnicities and backgrounds, being able to come into the industry and be. Vocal and be um, I guess just honest with the challenges that they face in their areas.

And so I don’t feel a little weird about that question ’cause I feel like there’s so many people that have even more to say about that than I do. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: And do you think tourism can be a force for inclusivity? 

Andi Pernsteiner: I think it can. From the standpoint of kind of, you know, when, when we were talking earlier about the stories that people come here with.

It gives people the opportunity to tell their story but then add to it. And I think it’s really important, especially in a rural, I mean we are in a rural area where we don’t necessarily, I would say get as, as much experience from and, and understand the challenges of different areas. And so by having people come from all over the world, it helps us to understand those things and react a little bit to it.

I would say, um, ’cause we are a little insulated up here. But my hope is that, you know, in providing a space for people to have those conversations, but also a space for people to maybe experience something that they haven’t before, whether that is on the water or out in the woods, it’s helping people grow in themselves, figure out why they came here, and hopefully walk away with like a piece of the Upper Peninsula, um, that’ll inform them in their everyday lives going forward.

Sara Raymond de Booy: Yeah. And how do you think a DMO like Travel Marquette can help to facilitate some of those connections? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Oh, that’s a good question. I think by providing resources to travellers, um, really just helping them understand what’s available here, but also be aware of the concerns. I mean, if you’re coming from a metropolitan area and you haven’t had a lot of time in the outdoors, there are safety things to think about.

You haven’t had time on Lake Superior. It’s a pretty wild lake. Like, let’s inform people, um, of what to expect. But I think also, especially, you know, through websites and social media, being able to extend that, reach out to people that haven’t been here, and give them the opportunity to think about what we have to offer before they come.

And then I’m just thinking about something Travel Marquette is doing coming up here for the 4th of July, and that’s a sensory, sensory-friendly 4th of July experience. I think it’s, it’s really important that these organizations start to understand through other people’s experiences what we, what we need and what we need to provide to our tourists.

Um, that’s changing and it’s changed over time and they are evolving with that, you know, that information that they’re, that they’re getting. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: And do you think visitors are seeking out this more inclusive, community-centred places to support as they travel? I, 

Andi Pernsteiner: I think that there’s again, a lot of considerations that, you know, if you go back 30 years in the way travel was and, and what we focused on, you know, it was just sort of like the hotel and maybe a little bit more of the manufactured tourism experience.

I really see at least Travel Marquette, can’t speak to other organizations, but really trying to embrace what already exists here, instead of trying to manufacture something that’s maybe gonna, um, you know, not be authentic to what we are, because things aren’t perfect. There’s, and showing people the parts that aren’t perfect, I think is as, as important as showing them the things that are wonderful.

And I think, you know, what travel is, is becoming a little bit more, is trying to enhance that authentic experience versus something that’s made up. Yeah. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Do you ever experience any sort of tension between visitors and local locals or witness it? Can you talk about that? It sounds like yes is the answer.

Andi Pernsteiner: Well, yes. I mean, there’s certainly tension between locals and travellers, and I think some of it is, you know, the locals, they’re very protective of this place because we do love where we live and we want to keep it that way. There’s aspects of Marquette that are, you know, quiet and um. When tourism and tourists are in town, we all feel that change.

We feel like that quietness go away a little bit. There is a level of um, I would say increased disruption at the beaches. Um, I live by a beach. I walk on the beach. I certainly see more trash, um, you know, more disruption in the summer months when we have tourism. And so I think that that can leave a bad taste in some of the local’s mouths.

I think that’s why it’s important to have spaces where locals and tourists can interact. And I think a place like Oroc is a great place to provide that because if they even have that chance to sit with somebody and hear their story and recognize that they have a lot to give us, uh, you know, we’re giving something to them, but they have a lot to give us as well, and creating the space for that to happen, I think that helps to decrease that tension a little bit.

Sara Raymond de Booy: Yeah. And do you think that tension is always directed at the right people if there’s, you know, busier beaches and, and more rubbish. Is there, is it liklier that it’s, that it’s the visitors or do you think it might just be, 

Andi Pernsteiner: I mean, I think, I think it’s a little bit of both. We have a university in town here, and certainly we also get.

College students that are still learning how to act in the real world. Um, and we see a little bit of, um, I guess that those disruptions happening at the beginning of the, of the college season two in September. So I think it’s a little bit of both and truly, we were, Marquette was built on a very industrial and extractive industry, right?

So, um, logging, mining. Those are all things that are not very responsible either, but that’s what we were built on here. And so I think it’s recognizing that we’re all learning over time how to preserve and protect our space. Um, and none of us are perfect. So trying to remember that I guess. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Yeah. So how would you say that tourism is helping to support the wider ecosystem here of makers and artists and, uh, musicians and, and food producers and brewers, I guess, too. 

Andi Pernsteiner: Yeah, I mean, tourism is key. Summer, the summer months are certainly our busiest time, but I think what I really like, um, actually about also what travel Marquette is doing. Is thinking about the whole year and trying to remind people that everyone loves the beaches.

Everyone loves to go swimming, but we have amazing trails to snowshoe and snow bike and ski and do all of these winter, you know, sports as well. We have wonderful waterfalls that you can go and hike to. Um, and in the fall the colors are amazing and so. Although the summer months, it’s very clear economically that tourism is important.

I think providing those experiences and those out, especially outdoor experiences throughout the year, um, is something that we’re really as a community, I think, trying to promote. I think the, you know, the importance of tourism is, is becoming more apparent to everyone in, you know, not just the business owners, but locals in general, and they realize like.

We are moving away from some of these extractive industries. We’re not gonna be able to have jobs in all of, you know, those aspects anymore. And so the tourism industry is something that can bolster the jobs that are lost in those areas. Certainly. You know, we just had a 50% increase in our staffing ’cause of our expansion, and we’re really proud to be able to support the livelihood of all of these people.

I mean, it’s really important to us, and that’s part of my responsibility as a business owner. It’s part of what keeps me up at night sometimes, you know, in terms of how I’m running my business. And so I, I think tourism is essential and, and our ability to keep evolving the industries that are important in the Upper Peninsula.

Sara Raymond de Booy: Gotcha. And do you have any ideas on what it could look like in the future for the tourism industry to more fully support local supply chains and local producers? Ooh. 

Andi Pernsteiner: I think what’s really hard about that. From my perspective, because we’re a manufacturer, essentially, I mean, we’re a manufacturer of beer, we’re a manufacturer of experiences.

Um, but a lot of our struggles in this area from a business standpoint are, you know, with transport and raw materials and the cost of things. Not sure what tourism gets out, help with that. Um, but if nothing else, it is providing that word of mouth and letting people know, you know, what they found here and what they were able, you know, what that brought to them.

And keeping the tourism growing and evolving organically, I guess not just through media, but like through actual people’s voices and their experiences. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: And so do you see yourself as a leader for Marquette’s next chapter, perhaps?

Andi Pernsteiner: Well, I hope that I’m a leader. You know, I, I hope that I’m perceived as someone who’s being thoughtful about the choices we’re making and the business we’re running and the direction that Marquette’s going.

Um, you know, every day I would say I question decisions. And, and the way that, that we’re running our business. But I think that’s maybe the mark of a responsible business owner. Uh, I think anytime you feel ingrained and love your community, it’s very natural for you to want to exemplify the things that you feel are important in that community.

And I guess that’s being a leader. I hope so. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: What do you think, I guess, well, you phrase this as if you’re giving advice to another brewery owner. What do you think breweries can teach someone about a place and its values and the landscape and its, its creativity, even? 

Andi Pernsteiner: I think, you know, if I had the chance to sit down with a new brewery owner and a, and know, and a new town, or their new in town, I would say set the space, create the place for these people to have the conversations that help.

To establish you as that community hub, that community meeting place. Um, don’t try to force things, let things happen. Listen to people. Open yourself up to things that you’re not used to, maybe organizations that you aren’t familiar with. Make sure that you are keeping that open mindset and allowing different mindsets to come into your space.

Um, just create that place for that to happen. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: And what lessons do you think visitors or that do you hope visitors will take with them after an experience getting to know businesses like yours in Marquette? 

Andi Pernsteiner: I hope that you know visitors after coming to OC or really any business in Marquette, recognize the importance of a tight-knit community that take care of each other.

I hope. That they have the chance to meet some of the locals and hear the stories. I hope they learn about what the people of Marquette love about being here. I hope they get the chance to experience some of those things for themselves, and I hope they walk away feeling that way about their home and wanting to create that same thing there.

Or at least, at least maybe it inspires them to go to their local brewery. And talk to someone who’s visiting there, you know, and, and let them have that same experience that they were allowed to have here. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: What do you wish a visitor knew about Marquette before they came to visit? 

Andi Pernsteiner: I think there’s a lot of people that, that think, because we’re in the North Woods and we’re so removed from, um, society per se.

I mean, people really think you go north of the bridge and it’s desolate up here, and I, I want people to. To know that they’re gonna come to a very culturally rich, artistically diverse place. I think they realize it once they get here, but I certainly don’t think that they know that’s what they’re walking into.

Sara Raymond de Booy: And is there anything you wish residents knew about the visitors who come here? In those busier months, or maybe even in the off season too. 

Andi Pernsteiner: I, you know, I think it just comes down to understanding people, I mean, or having a level of understanding, recognizing that they are coming from incredibly different experiences, different life experiences, different environments, and having a little bit of patience with people.

And trying to figure out what you can learn from them instead of judging, because I think, well, human nature, that’s what we do most of the time. Right. But I think it’s just realizing that maybe you can learn something from them and opening yourself up to that possibility. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: So as a wrap up, just a couple, couple rapid-fire ones.

Yeah. Oh boy. What gives you hope about where tourism’s headed in this community? 

Andi Pernsteiner: I, I do hope that we see growth, but I hope that it’s. Slow enough growth that we can handle that. You know, I really want to ensure that our locals that spend the whole year here are taken care of. And that, and by that I mean our tourism industry.

Like I’m thinking about my employees right now, as I say that, I’m thinking about. Ensuring that they have a year of, of work and support because I see other communities that have, um, rapid growth in tourism and I worry about seasonal workers. I worry about people that are having to have all of those side hustles in order to make a living.

I really want to see us have. Uh, you know, yearly sustainable tourism industry. And when we talk about, you know, the season seasonal aspect of tourism, continuing to promote all of the seasons and all the opportunities we have year round, that kind of goes back to supporting our locals in, in their work in the tourism industry all year.

Yeah. Yeah. And do you feel like that’s happening now? I do. I mean, I, I do, I really see a lot of the. A lot of the promotion, again for the outdoor activities, but also for arts and culture because arts, arts and culture can be enjoyed year round. Right? So it’s okay to come up here in the middle of winter.

The snow is beautiful, and you’re probably going to get to see an art show or come see a theater performance and it’s, you’re gonna be amazed. Yeah. 

Sara Raymond de Booy: Um, what do you hope this place will be like in 10 years? 

Andi Pernsteiner: In 10 years, I hope Marquette has continued to evolve, to recognize. What we can provide to people of, of all walks of life.

You know, I think that kind of goes back to what we can learn from our tourists and where they’re coming from. You know, making sure that we. Think about the types of experiences that people are looking for, and we ad adapt to that. So I think 10 years down the road, like that’s a slow process. That’s learning and then adapting and creating the infrastructure to be able to do that.

So yeah, it’s a, that’s a decade long project 

Sara Raymond de Booy: on. If you were to write a note with the intention of somebody local to read it in 50 years, what do you think you’d want them to know about your work or this community? 

Andi Pernsteiner: Yeah. Well, I think I’d like them to know that we were setting the stage for an evolution of, of industry in the upper peninsula.

I would anticipate, you know, going back to the industries that exist now and what built Marquette in the past, you know, the extractive industries probably will be pretty much 50 years from now. Possibly not the case anymore. And so I would say, I’d want to remind them that we were in this space in time where we had to figure out how to make that transition and that probably they’re in the space of another transition and that there’s.

A lot that can be learned from that. And it can be fun too. Like it can be fun to see the challenges in front of you, you know how to continue to evolve a community and take that as an opportunity to think outside the box and do something different. And I’m hope they’re hoping they’re in that same space.

Sara Raymond de Booy: What makes you most proud? Some people say what makes them most grateful. So that’s allowed too. Okay. Uh, to be a part of the community here in Marquette. 

Andi Pernsteiner: I would say I’m just, I’m really proud to be a part of the changes that are happening in Marquette. I feel like moving here 20 years ago, it was a very different space and I’ve really seen it evolve over time and when you realize that a decade has gone by in our business and things have evolved so much, I guess.

I guess there, yeah, there’s a gratefulness to kind of making it through that, but also being a part of that and hoping, um, that we’ll be able to continue to do that work going forward. And I’m really proud of all the people I get to work with. I mean, I look at, there’s so, there’s so many people in Marquette that are doing so many interesting things, and maybe that’s the way it is in other communities.

I don’t know. There’s a lot of inspired people here and so I guess I’m proud to be a part of that group. It’s a pretty cool thing.

Sara Raymond de Booy: This has been Travel Beyond presented by Destination Think. And that was our chat with Andy Pernsteiner, owner of Ore Dock Brewing in Marquette, Michigan. For resources and show notes, visit our website at destinationthink.com. This episode was hosted and produced by me, Sara Raymond de Booy. It has theme music composed by my co-producer, David Archer. Lindsey Payne, Danny Gariepy, and Cory Price provided production support.

If you like what you hear, please take a moment to give us a five-star rating. It helps more people find our show. Thanks for listening, and we’ll be back with more from Marquette next week when we speak to Andrew Rickhauer about how organizations like United Way are supporting hospitality employees.

And his thoughts on how DMOs can help encourage travellers to volunteer and give back while they’re exploring. See you then.